Who's your Mummy?

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!!!!

As usual, we are celebrating here in the Chaos by getting all dressed up and such. Not me this year, as I am passing on the whole Trick or Treat thing...not cool to have your Mom walking around with you ya know.... and dressing up for work is well...boring since it would just be me and all...

Anyways, the 8th graders had a bake sale on Monday, and in the spirit of the impending Holiday, we made a few dozen of these....




Ooooh, spooky, scary....eeek! Oh, and Spencer made some lemon bars...which ended up being quite popular.

And now for some dressing up fun...may I present "Mountain Man"...

Here we see Mr. M. Man chillin' at home watchin' some of that there TV...





Mr. M. Man also likes to keep in shape...and quite a shape he has....




"Ugh...Can't touch my toes...."

C'mon Mr. M Man, give us a pose...





Check him out ladies!

And here's what the cat thinks of the whole thang...




"You're just as bad as the damn squirrel, therefore, we are still not amused..."

Edited to add: He kinda looks like a squirrel from the neck up too...don't he?

Shake it shake it shake it baby...

Yep...more earthquakes. All is well here in the Chaos though. A bit shaken, but doing OK. Poor Kitty cat is still freaked out - the news says there have been several (as in over a dozen) aftershocks from this last quake and I'm sure she can feel them. I can't though...which right now, is a very good thing.

OK, here's the nitty gritty:

Felt this one at 12:55 pm...pretty sure this is on the same fault line as this one I just felt tonight at 8:04 pm. First, a 3.0 er....then a 5.6 er. Rumble. rumble. rumble. Definitely shook me up. If you check out the recent quakes map on either of these links, you'll notice several smaller quakes all down towards the big one...in a nice purdy kind of row...has to be the same fault line.

Finally finished checking around with my boy and friends and all...everyone is safe, no damage or injuries. News says there was some minor damage near the epicenter and we should all prepare for aftershocks...some of which could be large. Lovely. Just checked the emergency supplies. I'm doing pretty good. Just need some more batteries for our flashlight and need to restock some of our first aid supplies. Guess a trip to Target tomorrow morning is in order. Have plenty of canned goods for us and kitty is well stocked with food and treats (very important those treats) and a new bag of catnip (also very important).

I was at home working and chatting with my Honey during the first one. We talked about it for a while and I sent him all the links and stuff and we looked at it together on the Google Earth map that the USGS is using now. Way cool. Told him a little about the area. It was actually centered across the highway from Black Diamond Games. Going to have to check in with Gary over the weekend and see how they're doing over there...and check on my friends at the ARF Mart Thrift Store (I used to volunteer there, it's two doors down from BDG).

During the second, I was at the JoAnn Superstore (in the same area as the epicenter of the first quake) waiting in the checkout line. Shelves and wall displays shook for a few seconds. I was wondering if I was just imaging things when a woman at the checkout kept telling her friend "I know I felt something. Didn't you feel it?" When she looked over at me I shook my head "Yes, you felt it cos I did too!" Other people were "Felt what? I didn't feel anything!"

Right after, my phone buzzed with a missed call from Spencer. I tried calling him back, but the mobile network was busy "PLease try again later." Got a bit scared at this point since that only happens when something big happens...so knew right away it was a big one and was hoping to God it wasn't centered in San Francisco where Spencer was with his Dad...after several tries and 20 minutes later, he finally got through. "OH MY GOD MOM! Did you feel that? That was SOOOO COOOOOL!" Right. Guess I worried for nothin'... He filled me in on all the details and said they were all OK and there was no damage.

Well it's off to bed to cozy up with my freaked out cat to read my new knitting magazines and hope to God I can fall asleep soon.

When Ex's get along...

Life is good. Cooperation is good.

The high school madness has officially begun. Yes, when ex's get along, it's a good thing. Especially when you're going to be spending lots of insane hours together trying to decide the next step in the future of your spawn.

Friday morning was our first High School tour. After the tour, Spencer's dad (the ex of course) let me keep his car for the night. (sweeet) Early this morning, we needed to be in the City for a Public School Fair. We were able to sleep in and drove into the City with ummmm....just a slight getting lost bit on my part...but with the help of Spencer's mad map reading skills, we made it on time.

To be greeted by utter chaos. Public schools grades K-12. Gah. Families everywhere. Gah. Our family, such as it is, dove in... It was worth it though, because we talked to Principals and students of all the schools we were all interested in and got a shitload of info about it all. Along with dates for yet more craziness. More tours, shadowing...ack.

November is going to be totally. Insane. I mean...totally. insane. The first two weeks are already full, the last few are filling up quickly. Did I say insane? Thought I did. Yes. Insane.

So to celebrate the insanity and take advantage of the fact that we had a car for the night, we made the rounds... Off to Spencer's fav game store Black Diamond Games. The owner, Gary, has moved the store to a new spot. Great for him, not so great for us...he's further away and we're not driving anymore. Hence, first destination, check out the new digs. Awesome, simply awesome. If you are local, and a gamer, check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Second destination...Yokoso Sushi. Why this sushi? We like it there, and it was next to Kohl's of course and Spencer needed some shoes and jeans. I swear, I will go broke keeping this kid clothed. Oh, and fed. Can't forget how much he eats....

Anyway, after a very yummy dinner, we walked across the parking lot to cruise the jean and shoe racks. Last night's Kohl's haul? Van's skater shoes $34.99 on sale. Polo jeans $17.99 on sale from $42. And some Urban Pipeline jeans $16.99 on sale from $32. Spencer actually bought one pair of the jeans using part of his gift card from Grandma M....which made me very happy.

Next up, back to Ross Dress for Less. Needed to return some shoes. Did that, used that money plus the remaining gift card I had left to buy some flat sheets. Going to sew them up to make duvet covers for our new quilts from Ikea. Going to add some cool buttons as closures, because of course, as a crafter, I have a stash of those...and they are mostly vintage. And if I ever get around to the sewing, I shall post pictures. Somehow I think that's not going to happen until after November is over. Just sayin'.

Our last stop of the night was getting two cases, two very heavy cases, of bottled water. We brought up one case last night. Left the other for this morning. Of course, we forgot about it, and now the Ex has not only a topped off tank of gas for so generously let us tool about in his new car for the night, he also has a case of bottled water.

Today...on the way home after the Fair, we got off the train in Downtown Oakland and visited End Game who was celebrating 6 years of gaming fun. Met up with Spencer's good buddy ...he who floods toilets...and the boys spent some time gaming. I sat in a comfy chair knitting and chatting with a gaming widow. Her hubby is a book author...gaming manuals or whatever for role playing games.

Got home, took nap...but am still exhausted, so it's off to bed now for me.

Tomorrow, we bake for a bake sale at Spencer's school on Monday. The kids are raising money for a Washington DC trip in the Spring. There will also be laundry, a walk across the street for groceries, ummm...and I'm sure something else that I'm totally forgetting about.

And the most important of all, calling Grandma M and Auntie L. And some prime chat time with the Honey. Looking forward to both.

Cat vs. Squirrel

Ahhh...the sounds of nature. My 'boyfriend' the crow, wakes me every morning with his CAWWW CAWWW CAWWWWWWW...and taunts me throughout the day. The dog in the adjacent neighborhood howling...the birds in the trees singing. The squirrels running about gathering up nuts for the winter...

Ever since I've been here all day with the working from home thing, there has been a daily confrontation between my cat and a local squirrel. Also known around here as the "Evil Squirrel". My Kitty is not bothered by the other squirrels running about preparing for winter...just the one. Because this one insists on climbing up into the tree just outside my bedroom window and doing this all day (you might need to turn up your volume a bit to catch all the chattering):

Usually, my precious little Angel is in the window, muttering at him, making delicate cat noises which I'm sure can be translated as: "I'm going to get you Evil Squirrel." Just now, he did this for at least 15 minutes before the leaf blower dude came round the corner and scared him off.

Today, she decided to hell with him, this bed cover is oooohhhhh, so comfy, so piss off Evil Squirrel, you do not amuse me today (leave the volume up):

Isn't she just so "We are not amused." Ha Ha Love it.

Calgon...get the heck over here and drag my ass to somewhere else but here...

Ugh...just feeling a bit like my brain will explode lately. Lots of information is making it's way in via phone calls, emails, texts, instant messages, snail mail, internet....ack.

Just what is all this info for? Spencer. Spencer is going to high school next year. And if the fact that my 'baby' is growing up (and you all know exactly how I feel about that...) wasn't enough to make the ol' gray matter want to scatter about the room...well...let's throw in researching high schools. Don't go thinking it's just me doing all the work either. Spencer, his Dad, and I are going through the madness as together as we can get these days.

This Friday is our first school tour. Saturday, there is a high school fair in San Francisco. There is also a gathering for 8th grade families on Saturday afternoon. And this is just the beginning of what is sure to be a few months of scheduling hell.

The 8th grade families are always wanting to get together...to commiserate having teens, to share high school information, to talk to others going thru the same shit. To just reinforce every so often that they're not the only ones going thru it. To try and get some sanity back.

And this is just the research phase.

Next up we have more tours, standardized testing, and then the forms start...Oh the glorious friggin' forms. I hate forms. Hate them with a passion. Unfortunately, you can't do anything in this world without pushing a bit o' paper around.

I just want to run screaming sometimes when all the info comes flooding in...'cause you know it would be just way too convenient for all us parents if the universe could just spread it out just a wee little bit. So we get slammed every few days. With loads of crap from every direction. I need to remember to NOT check my email before bedtime until this is all over with... Gah.

Oh...and the Superior Court system here has decided to reject my excuse to get out of my jury summons. Fools! I'll show them. I'll get knitting needles in that court house somehow, stand up in court and yell "I have needles and I know how to use them!" and then demurely add "would you like to see what I've done so far on this lace shawl your honor?"

Oh, and I've already warned the Honey that he might get a message from Antonella saying I'm in jail for contempt of court...'cause I'm going in packing needles and an attitude. I soooo do not want to do this...I've got too much brain clean-up to do.

bwahahaha...just had a fabulous idea...I have some very very very thin mechanical pencils...they would be perfect to use to make some fabulous baby booties and maybe a dishcloth or two while I'm waiting. Can't wait to see what happens when "they" search my backpack. Nothing but yarn and a few mechanical pencils...what could I possibly do with that?

Geez...maybe I should have had that glass of wine after all...

Edited to add: First of all, damn, I REALLY need to go to bed. Second, OK so the mechanical pencil thing didn't work out...very very very thin wasn't as thin as I thought it was...equivalent to US size 11 needles actually. That won't do, won't do at all. Enter plan B: I have an absolutely lovely pair of fancy pants chopsticks (US size 7) - ready and waiting to go to court. Encased in a lovely chopstick holder thingy so they are obviously chopsticks and not weapons of mass destruction. I'm having waaay to much fun with this...or is it obsessing now...ok ok...going off to bed now.

More Art and a Biiiig Project

Hi Everyone,
Finally posting the pictures of Spencer's latest art pieces that I've been teasing about for a week...


City Park:






The Bridge:






And now for the Biiiig Project. He's hoping to use this as his independent art project for school this year. And when that's all done, we're going to hang it along the very long, very empty wall in the living room.

First...the plan....draw a picture of a tree in six panels...six panels will become six canvases...

The drawing:





And now the canvases...with the drawing lightly penciled in...don't know if you'll be able to see it all that well...





He is still deciding on colors and all that. He'll probably start the actual painting next weekend when he's back over at my place. The canvases are 16x20 inches each, so that'll be quite a big piece of art when it's done. I can't wait to see it. I'll post pictures of progress if he'll let me. But you know I'll definitely post the finished artwork!

Links and Buttons and Blogs, Oh My!!!

Ok folks, time for some clean up on the ol' blog here...going to delete some old buttons (knit from your stash anyone?), add some new ones, put some more links up there, yada, yada, yada...

First off links and buttons.

Was going to delete the "Knit from Your Stash" button, but seems I already have...wonder when I did that?

Anywhoo...adding one for Ravelry, of course, but don't click on that one unless you're a beta person, 'cause otherwise you can't get in and that would just be cruel. They hope to open it up soon, but I'm not sure when. They are still taking sign-ups for their waiting list to get an invite into the Ravelry Beta - just in case any of you knitters/crocheters out there don't know. Once they are done with Beta and it gets opened up, I'll let you all know.

Adding other buttons/links for books written by bloggers whose blogs I regularly read. They are the Yarn Harlot, Crazy Aunt Purl, and My Boyfriend is a Twat.

The Yarn Harlot writes humorous knitting books, of which I have read two, and I even saw her in person last year and got one of them signed.

Next up is Crazy Aunt Purl. Her book is about getting divorced, and moving on, and learning to knit, and living with 4 cats. Haven't read it yet, but if it's anything like her blog, it'll be good.

And then there is Zoe, from My Boyfriend is A Twat. (Honey told me about this one - she's a Brit living in Belgium.) Her book is how to recognize, deal with, and live with an utter Twat and has nothing whatsoever to do with knitting. But I want to read it anyway. Again, because if it's anything like the blog...

Anyway, check them out, read their blogs, buy their books. I'll eventually get them all myself. When I do finally read them all, I'll try and post reviews.

Oh, and I'll eventually put up a list of blogs I read...have been meaning to do that for a while now...

I really shouldn't be online right now...

'Cause I'm tempted to sign on to instant messenger and see if Honey is around...Hi Honey!

Anyway, lots to do today. Ms. Puffy needs a little work. Her handlebar keeps coming loose, so I'm taking her over to the bike shop down the road. Plus there will be a stop at the Ace Hardware and Walgreen's stores while I'm over there. Lot's of plans for the blog here, but that will have to wait until later. Have some pictures to post and some buttons to add on the sidebar, so stay tuned for that...also need to go post on Ravelry about my FO Honey Scarf and my current WIPs. One is a gift project which is safe to post on Ravelry, since not one of my gift recipients will be on Ravelry. hee hee The other is my first pair of baby booties for Charity Knitting.

OK, well it's off to get myself clean and decent and then I'm off on my adventure for today.

Still plugging away at work...

Last few days have been hectic. Today is much more mellow, but still busy. Fedex finally delivered my color ink cartridge, so I can get back to making CD labels and all that...and get on with shipping out the new release.

Been having fun with shipping, toilets, bikes, late buses, meetings at school, printers running out of ink and no one around here having what you need in stock...seems like the list is endless.

Spent over an hour on the phone with Fedex fixing my account, called the apartment manager, fixed the bike, finally caught the bus, went to the meeting, rec'd a box today.

Now I can ship, flush, ride, ride, send my child to High School and print. All is right in this part of my little world. Well, as good as it can be for right now seeing that I've got lots of stuff to ship...I am just grateful that it's not coming out of my pocket to get it shipped...

Got a lot of knitting in yesterday as I spent lots of time on public transit getting to and from Spencer's school for the meeting. Yay. It felt good to sit back, relax and get a few pattern repeats done.

It's chilly out and cloudy and rainy. Would love to curl up on the couch with a warm blankie, the kitty, my knitting and a movie. Must work instead...but the couch is calling...nope, customers waaaaannnntttt, so must deliver. Guess I'll save that other stuff for the weekend. Plus more high school research and updating the blog with some photos of artwork. Spencer is on a roll.

Jury Duty

OK, so have decided I'm going to try and get out of Jury Duty. The courthouse is a good 30 minutes drive and further than the recommended trip length for the car in it's current condition. So, technically, I don't have reliable transportation - which means I'm busing it to the court house if I get called in...according to the Jury Summons, if you don't have a reasonable means of transport and/or it takes more than 90 minutes to get to the court house, you can be excused from duty. Since I don't know if I'll have another car by then, we'll all just say I won't. (Works better for the whole getting out of it scenario you know.)

Thanks to http://www.511.org/, I now have two print outs saying it takes 83 minutes to get to the court house and 97 minutes back if I take public transit. They requested this as proof of trip as well as print outs of the bus schedules. And since we all know public transit will most likely be late, even a few minutes will get me over the 90 minutes on the way there...and I have more than enough on the way back home. Hope it works. I really don't want to go.

Why not? Don't you want to fulfill your civic duty Donna?

Reasons:

1. It's voting day, and I forgot to send in my absentee registration again, so I have to go in person and vote. (So lame this one, I'm sure the Court would allow me to do this, no?)
2. They don't allow knitting needles in the court house. Not only can I not knit while I'm waiting, I can't knit on the bus there since they won't let me bring the needles into the building...even if I promise not to try and take over the world with my size 7 bamboo circulars.
3. OK...I really really don't want to go. I get summoned all the time, it's someone else's turn...someone who has a functioning car and doesn't knit. One can only read so much before they get bored out of their minds.

'Cause you know all us knitters are dangerous when we've got needles in our hands...you could take someone's eye out with those!

And now if you'll excuse me, resident artiste Spencer should be biking in any minute from the train station...hope it's soon! There are some nasty looking rainclouds out there! We're going to walk across the street for a nice Italian dinner at my new favorite restaurant - Evana's Italian Kitchen. We haven't done anything special together in a long time, so why not.

Still around...

Hey everyone,
Still here, just coming off two of the worst work weeks in a long time. Crashed hardware, nasty deadlines, stupid mistakes, sneaky co-workers...all combined and everything else that could go wrong pretty much did. But, we managed to somehow make our deadline and now I can breathe a bit and enjoy life again.

Got a walk in, a bike ride (just the one last week unfortunately), some belly dancing this past Tuesday (just in the living room here), and a lot of knitting.

Not touching the old projects yet...I know, I'm bad. But I'm going to frog them anyways...shush.

One new gift project on the needles in the new yarn that arrived the day before Honey did. I'm quite impressed with the yarn and the pattern...and patting myself on the back (cast on and knitted - haven't restarted - at all)...it looks great so far. It's a wool/soy blend that I got on sale and it's oooooh sooooo verrrrry sooooofffffttttt. Love it. Hope I have enough left over, I will make myself some fingerless gloves out of it. Yum.

Speaking of Honey, today he helped me look over and pick out some patterns so I can start on my Charity Knitting projects. Can't wait to dive into the acrylic stash and get going. Got some cute bootie patterns off the net. Hope to show those off soon. Found the pattern I was using for baby hats when I did the preemie hat knitting a while back. OOOh, also went through some of my pattern booklets. Found some great baby/kid sweater patterns in my vintage books. I have books from 1950, 1956, 1960, 1970...and one from 1947! Got them at the thrift store for 10 cents each. Total. Steal. These booklets are priceless to me.

Anyways, the 1970's book is hilarious. Good grief some of those patterns are just awful. So I will be scanning/posting photos just to prove it. I know you'll all get a kick out of them too. Don't think I'll ever knit any up, so this pattern booklet is strictly for entertainment purposes. And it delivers.

In other news, Spencer is gathering up stuff for his Halloween Costume. He looks awesome so far and I'll post a photo when he finishes getting everything together. He's still biking to the BART station and tonight went to his first school dance of the season. Sniff. Sniff. And he's just about 2 inches taller than me now. Stop growing up already...I can't take it. Sniff. Sniff.

It's been raining this past week...and today we had quite the downpour. So I knit. Went to Antonella's for pizza and some TV watching, and I knit some more. It's getting chilly out, so I'm all about the knitting. Been having some aches and such with the arthritis in the hands, so knitting with the yummy soft yarn and wooden needles really helps them feel better. Just need to use size 7's for everything now. It's the 'just right' size for my hands. Not too big, not too small. Keeps them moving, keeps 'em warm, chases away the aches, and doesn't cause pain. Perfect.

Oh, and I just received a Superior Court Jury Summons the other day. You gotta know I'll be knitting. If I can't get out of it, I'll be taking along a whole backpack full of yarn...last time I did this, I waited. A lot. Took knitting and books and it still wasn't enough. Finished the project and the books and still had time left over to balance my checkbook. Three days of waiting people. Three. Friggin. Days. Gah.

OK, it's ridiculously late and I'm finally getting sleepy, so I'm off to bed.

Tootles.

Finished Object and Some Culture...

And now, for the finished object...

I present the "Honey Scarf"...




tadaaaa...yes folks, I still knit on occassion...in case anyone is wondering about my choice of colors, they are the colors of Honey's fav soccer team (or football as they say over there), Leed's United. He was in on choosing the colors of course, as I don't make a habit of choosing colors for men's gifts...or males of any age for that matter - unless the male is a baby. They also get to approve the object or pick out one. So much easier that way. I get final say on the stitches and/or the pattern tho...hee hee. Gotta leave something as a surprise...

Anywho...specifics high level...ummm....3 skeins of New England Highland Wool from The Yarn and Fiber Company, one each of colors White, Marigold, and Royal. Size 9 needles, cast on 24 stitches and knit seed st until you're cross eyed... Switching colors every so often to make purty stripes... oh, and don't forget to add a four-strand fringe when you are done...and don't forget to weave in all the ends...oh the ends...gah. Oh, and I slipped the first stitch of every row to keep the edges all nice and all. And I um, can't remember when exactly, I started it, but if you really want to know how pathetically long it took me to knit it up, you can look back in the blog here...I know I mentioned starting it at some point. For those Ravelry folks out there, I will eventually be adding this as my first project over there...when I get more time.

OK...now on to 'Some Culture'...as in Art.

Spencer had Friday off (and is off today as well) and spent a bit of time in the morning drawing.





May I present now, "Retro Chair":




This is just the beginnings of it, as he has added much more to the composition. It's a "Shades of Grey" drawing of my retro swivel rocker (one of a set of two), which is actually an authentic 1956 chair. Love my chairs, love his drawing. Even makes my half-dead plant look more alive than it actually is...

Gotta love it.

Still hanging round...

Hey everyone, I'm still here. I've finished the Honey Scarf, fringe and all, but I need to show it to my Honey first before I post here. Things I need to post about are piling up, but I've been busy with work.

Really busy.

If I'm not busy at work, I'm being 99% lazy. Work and getting used to my Honey not being here has taken a lot out of me this past week.

Now I'm off to wash some dishes (they've been piling up all week), and then fold the last bits of laundry from last week. Told you I've been lazy...

Might not have any posts of substance this week. Work is still rough, and things are starting now with High School research, tours, and applications for Spencer. Time to get that rolling. ugh. ugh. ugh. ugh.

Check the ticker above. I've lost two pounds. Wee.

Ms. Puffy finally goes for a spin...

...but I was not destined to be her first rider.

That priviledge went to Spencer. Last Tuesday night, we pumped up the tires, adjusted the seat and Wednesday morning he set off to the BART station with my Ms. Puffy and his own set of house keys. I cried.

Seeing as the car was acting up, he pushed to be able to ride the bike to the station on his own. I relented...it was a good idea...and it was time. Oddly enough, he was ok riding the 'girlie' bike, but he will soon have his own 'manly' bike thanks to some very generous friends who have an extra one.

Good thing Honey was here. He held me close while I dealt with Spencer growing up yet a bit more (as in crying like a baby) ...further and further from me. It's inevitable, but I still don't have to like it.

He rode again on Thursday, again with me in my robe at 6:45am walking him down the hallway to the front door and waving (and yes, crying) as he rode off to the station. Don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing him ride away from me. Sniff sniff...

Friday, I took him since he wouldn't be coming back to my house for the weekend - it was Dad's weekend.

Since then, Ms. Puffy has had a nice rest...peeking in through the patio doors...looking sad and lonely...until today.

Yes folks, I finally rode Ms. Puffy.

I rode her to the bank and back - about a 2.5 mile round trip. Had plans to go to one other place, but I couldn't take it. I'll save that ride for tomorrow. My legs are still a bit noodle-ish, and my bum hurts a bit, and damn did I look like a dork (and no, there will be no photos thank you very much), but I will get up on Ms. Puffy tomorrow and take her out again.

If it wasn't for the pain in my legs and bum, and the wheezing and huffing and puffing, I might even say I had fun. Oh yeah, and the heat. Tomorrow I won't go during the hottest part of the day. I'm going before work instead of waiting for lunch. D'oh. I should know better.

Oooh! Did I tell you all I walked across the street to Trader Joe's after work yesterday? I went grocery shopping on foot! Unfortunately, I went while hungry (very bad idea) ...spent way too much...and ended up with two very full, heavy bags. Oh well, I wanted to be more active. It wasn't all that bad, but I need to control myself if I'm going to be doing that more often.

Some day, I hope to work up to biking to Target...that's quite a haul from my place, but eventually, I'll be able to do it. Just not anytime soon...

Getting a good start on being more active. Hopefully I can wipe out those 10 pounds I gained before I go see the doc again...only time will tell.

Well that's all I've got for today...going to go veg on the couch. It's been a loooong day working and it ended on a terrible note, just about 20 minutes ago actually. Decided I just needed to shut it all down. It'll still be there in the morning, and there's not much I can do tonight anyways.

Maybe I'll finish the fringe on the Honey Scarf, maybe I'll do a small Etsy craft project. Maybe I'll just park my butt and grow roots for a few hours...

For all those Moms who swore they'd never say any of this and sound like their own Moms...

...ok NOW I can go back to bed...once I stop the laughter of course...

Watch this...first spotted over at Major Knitter...who has written down the words if you are interested...

Going back to work after vacation...

...totally bites.

But that's what I get to do today. And yeah, I know, it's in the middle of the night and I really should be sleeping. Can't. So zip it and read. At least I'm not working...

Not-so-Quick update:
Honey's visit was awesome. We had a wonderful time together. He survived my cooking, and living with my teen, and the 'evil cat from hell who hates men' has totally accepted him, so he's a keeper. I am very sad that it's done with so soon. Didn't seem like enough time together, but it usually feels that way doesn't it...many plans for the future have been talked about, but not set in stone, so won't reveal anything until it starts to come together.

Have some great photos from this Honey visit, and the last, which I need to share with you all. Guess I should post something about the first visit first, eh? Getting very lazy about doing big story posts...still need to do Mythbusters and Kublacon...and probably a few others as well...gah.

Finished knitting on the Honey Scarf, need to finish adding the fringe. Yes, he saw it, and loves it. With the leftover yarn from the scarf, I'm going to make him one of these...and then one of course for my sister, and myself...all of us big Dr Who fans...EXTERMINATE!

Need to set up a Flickr account and get things going on Ravelry. My first project listing will be the Honey Scarf.

I think I'm going to frog everything I've got on the needles (which quite honestly is only 3 things, so don't think it's a total tragedy) and get things going all over again. I've decided I don't like how the cotton shawl is going and don't really like the yarn, so I'm going to frog it and give the yarn away. Easiest way to reduce your stash actually. Gave lots of other yarn away as well during that last big give away thing before Honey's visit. Really need to be more selective when I buy sweaters to recycle. Thought about selling it, but it's not really usable, so gave it away, someone might be able to do something with it...

The Phoenix rectangle shawl is going to be frogged and reborn as a new shawl (if I can ever find the pattern, it's called something like "Cat's Eye Beaded Shawl"). Still beaded, but different pattern.

I'm still undecided about the mohair shawl I'm working on. I think I might keep that one, I need to find it and see what it looks like first. Maybe I'll do that as a Cat's Eye Beaded Shawl as well. Sure wish I could find that damn pattern...gah.

Oooh...and here's my latest favorite online yarn store The Yarn and Fiber Company...free shipping, great customer service, and good sales/prices. Did I say free shipping? Oh yeah, I did... Did I say no minimum order to qualify for free shipping? Just did. Go check them out. Got my Honey Scarf yarn here and some more yarn for a gift project. Very happy so far, so thought I'd pass along the info.

Have lots of acrylic laying about in the Chaos Stash, so need to get working on some charity knitting. Booties and Baby hats a-go-go in the Chaos here soon...as soon as I find my favorite patterns...think I'm going to work on learning color work on the caps...do some basic stuff to 'cut my teeth' so to speak. Have been wanting to learn color work for a while and seeing the work of Honey's Mum on his sweaters has really made me want to do it. Will do larger caps and scarves as well. Need to check with the Community Charity Knitters over at Stash Yarns and see what they need.

Need to get going on my Etsy Idea List. Lots of crafting to do...most of it for the Holidays which are rapidly approaching, so if I want to even think about selling that sort of stuff, I'd better get my tush in gear...

Lots of catching up at work...and it's about to get very, very busy. Lots of crafting, sewing and knitting to do at home...oh wait...it's the same place for both...oh well, you guys know what I mean...now that I don't have all the boxes laying around getting in my way and stifling my creativity, I think I'll be able to get rocking on everything. All this should keep me busy and out of trouble and not dwelling on the fact that I'm missing the Honey so much. Not going to do too many projects at once tho, that's just asking for burn out. Have decided no knitted gifts this year cause I'm concentrating on the Charity knitting and Etsy stuff for a while. I will do something small that is handmade tho, with lots of gift cards. Easy way out, but that's what's best for this year.

Oh yeah, and then there is school stuff for Spencer. He's in 8th grade now, so we've got to get going on selecting a high school and getting applications and all that wonderful crap....GAH!

Oh yeah, and then there's the transport issue. Car is on the fritz, possibly going to kick the bucket and go toes up on me. Need to decide if I want to fix it, or trade it in...in the meantime, not using it all that often - guess I should get it in the shop for estimates... Spencer and I are well versed in the Art of Using Public Transit and use it whenever we can and we have the most wonderful friends who will assist us with rides if necessary, so it's not that big of an issue right now. Ask me again tho when rainy season starts...hahahaha... Spencer is all transit to school every day, and karate twice a week - I'm so proud of him. If I still worked in San Francisco, I'd be riding my bike to the BART station right along side him. Sniff. But, I'm at home, so his "Cool Factor" isn't threatened by the fact that he rides BART with his Mom...even tho none of his friends would ever see it...teens!

Well, Honey should almost be back home (wah!) and sleeping off his full day plus a bit of travelling. Don't expect to hear from him for a while, and he'll probably read this before we make contact...so...Miss you...hope you rested well...you know what I'm really thinking...

Speaking of sleeping...guess I'm off again to bed...starting to feel tired again...yeah! And this is getting long...and I'm rambling...and most likely boring you all to tears...

Later everyone...